It's January. My letterbox is full of bills. Here are some things I'd rather were in my letterbox:
1. A letter from a friend
2. A present
3. A party invite
4. A pigeon
While the first three things on the list may be flights of fancy, the pigeon - I'm very pleased to say - is not. In a move that puts the coo into cool, The Letter Writer's Alliance, an United States organisation devoted to keeping the art of letter writing alive, have created a special carrier pigeon service. For $30 you get your very own (plastic) pigeon, message forms and stamps. Think of a lucky recipient, pop in into the postbox and away it goes.
In the States, you don't even have to bother with any further form of packaging: it's just the pigeon, the stamps and the postbox you need to get your message out. (New York-based Tina from Swissmiss, where I heard about this birdy brilliance, wrote that her postman simply walked in with her pigeon post sat on his shoulder). They do sell the kit internationally as well, for an extra $33. However, it does come with the warning that you might have to pack the pigeon into a box, or resort to hand delivery to get it through your own country's postal system. Does the British postal service accept unaccompanied pigeons? Can anybody confirm?
The Letter Writers Alliance site is packed full of other inventive bits of postal fun to encourage you to scribble away, such as pneumatic post kits or the intriguing sounding moth mail, which comes in a different colour depending on what phase the moon is in when you order your set. Become a member of the alliance for $5 and you can use the beautiful Letter Writers Alliance headed paper with pride, and buy other exclusive bits of stationery too. Exclusive stationery and the chance to get pigeons in the post (Really, I'd be happy with just a few letters...)? Sign me up.
The American postal service seems to take great pride in handing odd objects. I once posted a friend's wire sculpture from there with just an address tag tied to it (part of an art project) and they didn't bat an eyelid.
ReplyDeleteThis makes me immediately want to move to America just to try out posting odd things to myself.
DeleteYet the UK post once lost a package containing all of my birthday cards. For three months. That perked up my January.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me a bit of a lovely documentary I saw about Paul Smith and a mystery person who sends him beautiful, random, unwrapped gifts though the post. It's called P.S Your Mystery Sender. Random mail rules!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUBPqGGGHhk
Oh that looks fab. Oh Comely magazine did a feature a few years ago when they tested what they could and couldn't get through the post - the UK postal system proved surprisingly robust.
DeleteI have received a banana and a chocolate bar, both unwrapped, in the UK by post. Seems there was no problem as long as the correct postage was paid, so pigeons should be just fine!
ReplyDeleteI would like more information about the person who send you a banana in the post. They sound like someone I'd like to be friends with.
DeleteIn the US, I've sent plastic Easter eggs stuffed with goodies - just get an address label and ask the nice person at the post office for some extra packing tape.
ReplyDeleteThis is immense, shame we cannot have it in the UK.. I want to post a pigeon...
ReplyDelete